Lawmakers: G Train Riders Deserve Better Service

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Two New York State senators called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Sunday to undertake a review of G train service in Brooklyn and Queens.

Sens. Daniel Squadron (D-Manhattan) and Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn) said Sunday that despite the booming growth of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn and southwest Queens along the G train line, frequency and rider communication have failed to keep up.

“Ridership on the G train has grown, and it’s got to be a whole lot better,” Squadron told 1010 WINS. “We know that the neighborhoods that it serves from Brooklyn all the way into Queens are thriving, and unfortunately they don’t have a train line right now that’s thriving along with them.”

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The G is the only subway line that does not enter Manhattan. It serves the booming neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn, as well as Long Island City in Queens.

But the line has long had a popular reputation for poor service, from long waits for trains to frequent service disruptions. In 2008, the New York Times noted that the G train was known as the “stepchild of the subway system.”

Squadron said it is time for that to change.

“The G train has become the artery between large parts of Brooklyn and Queens, and in a lot of ways, it is the line that is too often forgotten,” Squadron said.

He called on the MTA to launch a comprehensive review and create a plan to improve service on the G train.

“This is the new process that I’ve created with the MTA, where they take a soup-to-nuts look at the law, and they look at frequency. They look at construction. They look at ways to improve the experience for riders,” Squadron said. “We want the MTA to embark on that immediately.”

The G train also has been the source of frustration due to service cuts over the years. Service was also cut back from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Court Square – first only on midday and rush hours to accommodate the since-eliminated V train in 2001, and later at all times in 2010.